Mission life: THE KUKMIN DAILY

Unexpected Court Ruling Invalidates Election of KMC Bishops Council President

2018-01-22 16:21

On January 19, a court judgment found the 2016 election of Rev. Jun Myung-ku as president of the Bishops Council of the Korean Methodist Church to be invalid. It is predicted that this ruling will not only cause chaos within the KMC, but will strongly impact the churches’ ecumenical movement. (*Rev. Jun Myung-ku smiles and waves in the ballot-counting room at the KMC Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, immediately after confirmation of his election as Bishops Council president on September 27, 2016. Kukmin Daily DB)

For the Korean Methodist Church, with its bishops system, the Bishops Council president is the core of its leadership. If, as a result of this ruling, the Bishops Council president is unable to perform his duties, the denomination as a whole is likely to undergo serious disturbance. To make matters worse, KMC headquarters is already having policymaking difficulties due to vacancies in the posts of administration and planning chief, general secretary, and mission department director. Moreover, the headquarters is in an austerity situation, with this year’s budget cut by 20% from last year’s as a consequence of diminished church strength. So the invalidation of the Bishops Council presidential election is inflicting shockwaves.

As of January 21, the KMC headquarters had not yet stated its official position. A KMC source said, “We did not foresee the invalid election ruling.” Looking disconcerted, he added, “We are discussing possible directions for our future response.”

On January 19, the Seoul Central Branch District Court’s 46th civil conciliation division (judge: Lee Su-yeong), in its ruling on a suit filed against the KMC in December 2016 by Rev. Seong Mo of Saesomang Church for invalidation of the bishops council presidential election, confirmed that “the election was invalid” and ordered the defendant to pay the related court costs. Rev. Seong had complained that in the September 2016 bishops’ president election, some of the candidates were ineligible, having served less than 25 years in the ministry; that 312 laypersons from the Southern Seoul Annual Conference of the KMC had voted without balloting rights; and that some candidates were suspected of having exerted “money influence,” but the Election Commission had tacitly approved the election result, he said, and therefore he filed the lawsuit for invalidation.

Reporters Jang Chang-Il & Gu Jachang (jangci@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)


Full Story in Korean:
[이슈분석] 법원 “기감 감독회장 선거 무효” 판결… 감리교 내홍 불가피 교회연합운동까지 타격: 기감 본부 “판결 예상 못했다” 당황… 임시 감독회의 소집했지만 항소 여부 등 후속 대책 결정 못해

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